American Go E-Journal

LEE CHANGHO WINS KBS CUP: Lee Changho 9P notched his 11th KBS Cup title win on March 4, defeated Kang Dongyun 9P by resignation to win the title 2-0. This is Lee’s first title win of the year.

CHO U WINS GAME 1 IN JUDAN: Cho U (Judan) defeated Yamashita Keigo (Tengen) by resignation in the first round of the 48th Judan-sen on March 4. This is Cho U’s third Judan title match since 2004. He lost the title match to O Rissei (3:1) in 2004 and won the title against Takao Shinji (3:1) in 2009. This also is Yamashita Keigo’s third Judan title match. He lost to Cho Chikun in 2006 (3:1) and in 2007 (3:2). The 2nd round will be played on March 25th.

KONO RIN WINS NEC CUP: Kono Rin 9P took the NEC Cup from Hane Naoki on Saturday, winning the final game of the 29th Cup by resignation. This is Kono Rin’s second NEC Cup title win; the first was in 2008 against Cho Sonjin.

LEE CHANGHO WINS ROUND 1 IN KUKSU: Lee Changho 9P defeated Hong Kipyo 4P by resignation in the first round of the 53th Kuksu title match last Saturday, March 6. This is Hong’s first national title match; he was 43rd in the Korean professional standings in 2009. The Kuksu is Korea’s highest Baduk title, the winner of which is commonly considered to be Korea’s strongest player. Last year’s Kuksu champion was Lee Sedol. Round 2 will be played on March 17th.

GU LI SUFFERS ANOTHER DEFEAT: Gu Lingyi 5P defeated Gu Li 9P by resignation on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the 10th RICOH Cup. This was the second straight tournament loss by Gu Li in the three days (see GU LI, KONG JIE ELIMINATED FROM CCTV CUP below). Mid-level dan players have been showing their strength as of late, giving 9-dans a run for their money. At just 18, Gu Lingyi is one of China’s rising stars, reaching China’s top ten this past August. The RICOH Cup semifinals will pit Wang Lei 8P against Kong Jie 9P and Gu Lingyi 5P against Xie He 7P.

GU LI, KONG JIE ELIMINATED FROM CCTV CUP: Top players Gu Li and Kong Jie went down to defeat in the CCTV Cup last week as Zhong Wenjing 5d eliminated Kong Jie in the first round on March 4 and Zhang Wei 6P defeated Gu Li 9P by resignation in the second round on March 6. Kong Jie was last year’s CCTV Cup winner and was expected to defend his title in the final round. Gu Li was the second of China’s top players to be eliminated by mid-level dan players. Of the eight players left in the tournament, three are 9 dan and the remaining five are either 5 or 6 dan. At least one of these mid-level dan players will advance to the final.

XIE YIMIN WINS ROUND 1 IN FEMALE MEIJIN: Xie Yimin (Female Meijin) defeated Mukai Chiaki 4P by resignation in the first game of the 22nd Female Meijin on March 3. The second round will be played on March 10th.

PARK YEONGHUN ADVANCES TO MAXIM CUP SEMIS: Park Yeonghun 9P defeated Yoo Changhyuk 9P by half a point in the third round of the 11th Maxim Cup on March 3. He will face Choi Cheolhan, the current Maxim Cup title holder, in the semifinal.
- JustPlayGo

CHINA’S MENG WINS STUDENT OZA: Meng Xiao-long of China defeated Seo Yutae from Korea in the final of the 8th World Student Oza Championship, held March 1-3 in Tokyo, Japan. The Americas were represented by Argentina’s Gabriel Benmergui, who finished 2-2 and Mexico’s Emil Garcia, who went 1-3. Europe’s Artem Kachanovsky (Ukraine) went 2-2 and Anna Prokopova (Czech Republic) finished 0-4. Click here for the results and the game-record of the final.
- Peter Dijkema